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UPDM (May 08, 2008)

On 14th April 2008, the OMG voted to reject the UML Profile for DoDAF and MODAF (UPDM) Finalisation Task Force (FTF) report. This meant that the UPDM standardisation effort ended at that time, and UPDM was not ratified as an OMG standard. The report was rejected on the grounds that the FTF had not addressed the DoDAF and MODAF requirements as specified by the DoD & MOD.

However, since then a number of the original FTF members have re-engaged with the DoD and MOD, so it is likely that a standard UML Profile will still emerge, and that standard may be “harvested” back into the OMG via the RFC process.

MOD Ontology Demonstrator Released (Apr 09, 2008)

DG-Info (ICAD) has been investigating the use of formal ontologies in MOD. Aside from supporting MODAF architectures, MOD is also considering different use cases for ontology. One such use case is integration of potentially conflicting data. One such example of this is country codification.

MOD has to be able to work with ISO country codes (2 letter, 3 letter and numeric), US Federal Information Processing codes (FIPS10-4) and NATO Stanag 1059. These codification systems are common for some countries and conflict for others. The ontology demonstrator shows how data from mutliple sources can be brought together and reconciled using the IDEAS Naming Pattern. IN addition, the demonstrator uses the IDEAS whole-part and overlap patterns to describe the structure of geopolitical entities and their borders.

The demonstrator is a prototype, so may have bugs. If you find any bugs, please report them (details are in the help pages). It can be downloaded here.. Unzip the contents of the zip file to your desktop or to a folder and run OntoDemo.exe.

Note: The demonstrator uses Microsoft’s Jet Engine (from Access) to process some of the ontology data. If the demonstrator fails to work, chances are you need to install the Jet Engine.

LinkedIn Group for MODAF (Jan 03, 2008)

There would seem to be a lot of MODAF users on LinkedIn, so as an experiment in “social networking”, we have created a MODAF Group for LinkedIn. To join, visit:

http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/48607/627C3F319D88

Integrated EA Conference Programme is Released (Nov 29, 2007)

The Programme for the Feb 08 Integrated EA Conference has been published. It can be downloaded here

Swedish Armed Forces Evaluating MODAF (Aug 01, 2007)

The MOD Architecture Framework is being evaluated for use by the Swedish Armed Forces. Quoting Lt Col Mikael Hagenbo of SwAF HQ Joint CIO Office:

“The Swedish Armed Forces (SwAF) are in the process of making a decision on adopting MODAF as an architecture description framework for defence systems documentation. SwAF are also in the process to investigate a tooling environment and a repository solution that can be shared with the supporting authority Defence Material Administration (FMV). M3 is going to be implemented in that tooling environment as a basis for documenting defence systems, services and capabilities”.

SwAF are considered thought-leaders in military service-oriented architectures and were co-developers of the proposed MODAF / NATO SOA views with the UK MOD. They have recently piloted the SOA views in an implementation project (as has D-Log Info in the UK MOD).

MODAF Tool Vendor Forum Established (Jun 15, 2007)

On 22nd May 2007, the first meeting of the MODAF Tool Vendor Forum was held. This forum provides the vendors with direct access to MODAF expertise, and a way to “speak with one voice” to the MOD about MODAF issues.

The Vendor Forum is not run by the MOD, though they have indicated their support for the idea.

The next meeting will be held on 21st June. If you are a tool vendor and would like to participate, please contact us.

RSS Feeds Available (Jun 15, 2007)

modaf.com is RSS enabled. The feeds are:

Whole Site – note this will inform you of any new article added anywhere on the site (including job postings)
News Articles
Job Postings

The Forum is Back ! (May 31, 2007)

By popular demand, the MODAF on-line discussion forum is back. You can view the forum by clicking on the link on the modaf.com menu.

You have to register in order to be a participant in the forum, though anything posted is visible to all site visitors.

Please note that the forum software used is freeware PHP, and has not been tested for security. When registering, please be aware that the personal information you enter cannot be guaranteed to be private.

Version 1.1 of MODAF Released (Apr 09, 2007)

As of 10th April 2007, the new release of MODAF (v1.1) is available at modaf.org.uk .

The new version of MODAF is an evolution of v1.0, and seeks to better integrate the concepts from the Strategic and Acquisition views with the core views inherited from DoDAF (OV,SV,TV,AV). In addition, the following improvements have been made:

Clearer emphasis in the documentation of the logical nature of the Operational Views (esp. OV-2 & 5).
Clearer distinction between OV & SV, with OV being seen as the “what” and the SV the “how” – i.e. logical architecture independent of implementation in the OV being released as a solution specification architecture in the SVs
Addition of “Problem Domain” concept in OV-2 to clarify the trade-space for to-be architectures.
Addition of human factors in the SVs – organisations, posts and roles can now be explicitly shown in SV-1, and functions in SV-4 can be conducted by roles (human), systems (machines) or Capability Configurations (combinations of humans, systems, platforms, etc.).
StV-6 purpose and use clarified – now acts as repository for Standard Operational Activities which can then be re-used in multiple OV-2s. It is likely that these will be JETLs or similar.
StV-5 shows organisational deployment of capability configurations.
High-level M3 overviews provided for the most popular views (more of these will be added over the next month).

Resources were diverted from the M3 to complete the v1.1 documentation over the Easter break. For this reason, a “v1.1 Beta” of the M3 will be release on 10th April, with a full release (with only minor fixes) to be released by 23rd April.

Winners of the MODAF Challenge (Dec 08, 2006)

The MOD Integration Authority has confirmed the winners of the MODAF Challenge and awarded the prizes. More information can be found here:

MODAF Challenge Winners [40.86KB]